Surbiton high boys/Hampton Prep/Willington prep

[Karina1256]

Hi lovely mums,

My son, now at independent pre-prep, will start year 3 next year at the new school (his current school only goes up to Year2)
I have visited all the schools mentioned above and kind of liked them all for various reasons.
I was impressed with Hampton prep boys, strong sports and academics. Really liked surbiton high too with great 11+ results and extra curricular activities. The head seems to be very hands on and down to earth.
Finally I really liked a family feel of Willington school, very nurturing and inclusive. However I am not too sure about their academics?

We are looking for a small school, with good academics/sport/art, not a hot house, co-Ed or single sex.
Could you please share your opinion on these schools? Good or bad, I would really appreciate it! Many thanks

Where do you live? Where does your preprep feed to?
The head at Surbiton Boys is known to be lovely.
Where are you aiming for at 11? If Tiffin SH is best bet, if Hampton then Hampton prep, if you don't think he is right for Hampton and move to that area then the options for boys are reduced compared to living in Wimbledon and having the access on the train to more schools.
They are all good schools so probably better to look at the other factors.

Also all preps are hot houses to some extent because of the pressure for the 11 plus, if you don't want pressure then go for an all through school like Claremont Fan. Or a prep a bit further out like Feltonfleet.

I’ve got a son in Year 2 at Surbiton - we absolutely love the school, however he only moved last year as his previous school shut suddenly. Really good work differentiation, excellent pastoral care and very enthusiastic teachers.

He is moving to Hampton prep though in Sept - purely logistics as my daughter goes to another school close by. There is also the chance of avoiding the 11+ at Hampton if you’re part of the set that gets offered a place but it’s hard to know what school will be a good fit so early on anyway! It is a draw though!

@redrobin75 thank you for your reply, much appreciated! At the moment we live in Ewell west area. Our small pre prep feeds mainly into City of London Freemen’s and Downsend in Leatherhead. I am not sure I want to consider CLF as I have heard mixed reviews, and quite concerned about their pastoral care reputation.
We also consider moving closer to London, Wimbledon area would be ideal for the work.
So from this point to view, I was thinking if we moved to Wimbledon , he could use minibus services to surbiton high or Hampton.
Obviosly the option is Willington prep, which is so convenient, location wise. But I am not so sure about the outdoor space and whether they are academically as strong as surbiton high/Hampton prep?
with regards to secondaries, tbh I have no idea, he is so young, I am not sure I can say now whether we want grammar or private for him at this stage..

@Swansong124 I loved enthusiastic teachers while doing the tour at Surbiton high. They seemed to be so engaging and passionate!
I don’t think that I have spoken to any of the teachers at Hampton, but spoke to the boys (year 6) who have told me quite a few of them got automatic offers from Hampton senior school (don’t know the percentage though).
But as you said, and I totally agree, at this stage is so hard to predict which school will be a good fit. I know he is very active (so must have good sport provision to burn his energy), very much into math, so school must be able to stretch him, as he works above the expected level, his reading/writing is fine, but I can see he really is into science and math.
thank you for your reply, it confirmed my gut feeling about Surbiton high school. Good luck at Hampton!

Would love to hear from mums, whose child(ren) are at Willington too, that would be so helpful and much appreciated

@Karina1256 , I was checking the number of assured places at Hampton prep when my phone crossed me over to an old thread where I posted by mistake.

I would go for Surbiton as it's nearer and gives you more flexibility at 11plus.

Hampton Prep has 20 assured places for Hampton Boys so during year 5 20 boys are told they have places at Hampton, rest of the year takes the normal entrance exams for lots of schools including Hampton Boys.

Thanks @redrobin75 very helpful! 🙏 surbiton high is definitely on the top of my preferred options!

@Swansong124 sorry to jump on this thread, but I’d love to also hear some first-hand experience about Surbiton boys. I really liked the Head, but I was a bit concerned about the lack of outdoor space, and the fact that they have to always move between buildings e.g. even to go to assembly or for lunch. I only saw the pre-prep building which seemed quite small. Did you find this was an issue? I really liked Shrewsbury House pre-prep too but not sure about the prep due to it’s focus on the 13+. Also considering St George’s Weybridge but wondered if it was a bit too big to focus on pastoral care. Thanks in advance!

No problem at all! I haven’t found those things a problem and my son is very sporty - happy to chat more, feel free to PM.

Hi, I would not consider Surbtion boys. You are best else where,
Hampton and
Shrewsbury are amazing.

In surbiton most staff get away with very little and there's a lot of talk about what the school provides but little action. Tiny playground.

Its very similar to a state school,
lots of bullying and little focus on academics.
Pastoral care is not great either. Sadly I have tons of examples. Happy to elaborate.

Goodness me I don’t recognize that description of Surbiton boys at all. Have you got the right school?! Not much focus on academics?! The 11 plus is a key focus with lots of extra lessons etc.
Sports facilities are incredible although a bus ride away. Teachers are the most dedicated we have come across several top schools.

Hi, thank you for your post. Could you please provide more details? If you are not comfortable sharing them here, could you please DM me, as I was (am) seriously considering joining surbiton high

I am happy to share as it may help others too.
A few examples:
1 boy in a year was bullying many children. This boy was given no extra provision even though he needed it and was clearly distressing many other boys. Countless parents complained and in the end 7 boys out of a tiny year of 30 left purely because of him and the lack of help from the head.
Lots of boys there with EAL needs and there is very little help for them. What happens is the main teacher in the class gives them extra time and other boys are left to their own resources. They don't have teacher assistance in every class for all subjects, which is key if your paying for private.
Teachers marking is appalling, they don't mark homework and in books it's just a tick and boys get very little feed back if any in their books. This is a general reflection on how much the teachers care about their delivery.
The head is nice, but the communication in the school is poor, this is noted by multiple teachers not delivering the same message as the head, in discipline/policies etc.
The boys waste around 140 mins a week on a bus to their sports ground and the teachers don't utilise that time with any learning like reading a book despite many parents requests.
Academics are poor and standards are so low. The leavers destinations speak for themselves- not great schools.
A lot of boys have learning challenges that go there and are not given any additional support so this takes away from the class teacher. Generally lack of teacher assistances.
Surbiton boys let's in a lot of challenging boys behaviour wise, some boys have been expelled from local schools and have been excepted there.
There's a lot of year groups that have 2 teachers for form and maths and English etc... which is not ideal for the boys and the head will never tell you until the boys start that year as she knows parents will complain. When parents have complained about inconsistency in teachers nothing happens. It is clear it doesn't work as the teachers don't communicate their work and discuss where the kids are at.
I'm friends with a teacher that left and she said it was an awful environment to work in as she was just left on her own to figure out things/systems/policies and there was no support from the head.

My boy was there and I thankfully took him out but I wish I hadn't wasted so long. I just felt it wasn't what a private school should be and I have now put my boy to a school local to us which honestly is like a breath of fresh air, it's what you expect a private school to be like.

Thank you for your detailed feedback. I do appreciate it! To be honest I was a little puzzled by the fact that specialist teaching only starts from year 3, If I am not mistaken.. and also the fact that they have to share the TAs between the classes… so not that I have not noticed these things, but thought that all schools (private or state)have some bad and good things about them, it’s more of the fact how the kids are affected by these issues, and what school does or doesn’t do to deal with the consequences..
would you mind sharing what school did you move your son to? Again you could dm me.. I am still undecided, even though not much time left. Many thanks.

Hampton. Very happy with it.

I’ve had experience of both Surbiton and Hampton. It sounds like the years I was involved with didn’t have anything like this (and didn’t hear this from siblings) so seems all quite strange!

Given it’s non-selective, the leaver’s destinations are excellent (and I aim high!). For us personally with our son we would choose Surbiton over Hampton despite the possibility of assured places x

@Handsupanddowm I’m not sure how long ago it is you are referring to, but what you describe isn’t the Surbiton Boys my sons have / are experiencing! Feedback has been excellent - any concerns have been raised quickly and we get a real sense they know every child really well. We’ve not had any major incidents of bullying in the time we’ve been parents there. I did hear there was an exodus of kids but that was going back quite a while now - before the current head joined, I think.

We’re in the early stages of 11+ process for one of my boys and I know from the initial meetings we’ve had boys have gone onto a real variety of schools – St Paul’s, KCS, KGS through to less academic ones – that’s what we really liked about the school. Both my boys are very different! Their process for 11+ is second to none, having spoken to other friends at different Prep Schools – I get the feeling they really help you focus on the right school for your son.

My son loves all the sports on offer and it’s surprised us how much given he wasn’t that sporty when he joined. He even enjoys the 10 minute bus ride down to the sports ground, they often go further afield but that’s for fixtures – same as any school. He’s definitely not spent over 2 hours a week on a school bus or I’d hear about it!

@HappyArtsFlora @Swansong124
many thanks for your replies! We still consider Surbiton high for our boy. He is quite sporty, loves being outside, playing football or other sports. Tbh, I am really concerned about lack of outside space, as he comes from surrey prep, where there is lots of outside space to run around during break time.. do you think it would be an issue? Otherwise I really liked the school 😊I had a good feeling about it…

To be honest, no I don’t, I did think it was an issue before we joined though. My son’s favourite thing is sports and they get tons of time and the teachers are literally incredible. He played football most lunch breaks etc so all fine. He’s moved now but I would move him back for the sports and facilities! Feel free to PM x

Hello, I wouldn’t recommend willington tbh. Lovely school community and overall good school but if you’re after strong academics or strong sports teaching then that’s not the right choice.

I don't know how active this is, but I just had to add what I feel is important information. In recent years, Surbiton High Boys' Prep has turned into a school for many special needs pupils: behaviour issues, autism, ADHD, sensory issues and low academic abilities. In my opinion, it is not a selective school anymore.

There is not enough support for these students and many of the behaviours are distracting, frightening to other children and drain the time and energy of teachers and teaching assistants.

In the last 4 years at the Boys' Prep, 3 Reception teachers have left, a Year 1 teacher and a Year 2 teacher. This was all due to challenging behaviours of pupils and very little support from the Head.

I cannot say my affiliation with the school, but I know many current families, particularly in Year 3, who are trying to leave because of the above mentioned behaviours. I just thought you should know as it's difficult to know when you tour a school.

I agree with @LilaB.

We moved our children from Surbiton to Hampton Court House in Jan and now couldn't be happier - what a breath of fresh air!

@LilaB I’ve got two boys at surbiton prep and that’s not been our experience at all. The Head and staff have been very open to feedback and deal with anything raised swiftly. We’ve had no real problems with other boys behaviour being a distraction let alone frightening! Perhaps it would be worth you speaking directly with the school?

I know a couple of teachers have left in the last few years but from what I’ve heard it was because of life circumstances, opportunities to work abroad or changing careers. From our experience surbiton boys prep has been really supportive and has helped my sons grow in confidence hugely. I’m currently in awe with how much preparation and support goes into the 11+ preparation for my oldest DS. He’ll be sad to leave.

Thank you all so much for your messages and feedback. I must admit I have never heard so many contradicting statements/ feedback about one school. I am really confused to be honest.
We were supposed to send our son to Surbiton high starting this September (year3) , but I now have doubts, reading some of your messages. It would be so good to hear feedback from current year 2 parents especially, so if you could message me with their contact details or give my contact to them I would really appreciate it!
From losing her sleep mum. P.S I really thought we have made a right decision, but not so sure anymore!
thanks everyone!

I’m confused too, as we absolutely moved Surbiton (I posted above). We left as I said due to logistics of location but are in the current year 3 group! I don’t really want to write any more but happy for you to PM me. I shared some of these messages with my friends there in year 3 and they were none the wiser! I can only speak for this year group I’m afraid in my own experience, but we still go to the parties etc and know the kids and parents and it all seems a little alien. Happy to ask if the people I know there are happy to chat to you but they are year 3 predominantly (some with siblings).